Friday, October 7, 2011

UPDATE: Sign the Petition to Save Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani

UPDATE AS OF 13 OCTOBER 2011

Once again, in the face of the immense international pressure that you have helped place on Iran, its government is spreading more lies in an attempt to divert media attention away from Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani’s death sentence.

Now, a state-funded news agency is reporting that Pastor Nadarkhani’s conviction has been overturned by the Iranian Supreme Court for a new trial. However, this is a blatant lie – it is regurgitating old information as if it were new news.

What’s worse is that the mainstream media has begun to run these reports as fact. It is critical that we keep the pressure on Iran, as Pastor Youcef’s fate remains in the hands of the Ayatollah Khamenei – and ultimately, in God’s hands.

We have sent this petition with over 160,000 signatures to Secretary of State Clinton, but we also made it clear that thousands of people are continuing to stand in support of her direct intervention with the Iranian government on behalf of Pastor Youcef.

Please continue to share this petition on Facebook and forward our email updates to prevent Iran from continuing to spread lies and confusion.

Here is what we know has really happened. This past June was the last time Pastor Youcef’s case was before the Supreme Court, which found that “further investigat[ion]” was needed to determine if Pastor Youcef was a Muslim before converting to Christianity. The Supreme Court sent the case back to the lower court, stating that “if it can be proved that he was a practicing Muslim as an adult and has not repented, the execution will be carried out.”

That hearing already occurred late last month, where the judges found that Youcef was a Muslim because his parents where Muslims; and he was ordered to recant or die – to which he replied, “I cannot.” As we await a written verdict from this court, the court has requested the opinion of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.

Earlier this week, the Justice Department revealed that Iran orchestrated a plot to assassinate foreign dignitaries on U.S. soil and bomb the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. This is the same Iranian government that continues to spread lies about Pastor Youcef.

Now is the time to turn up the pressure on Iran to release Pastor Youcef. Please make sure that Iran is held accountable for their actions by using the “Like” buttons in this email to share this article on Facebook and to prevent Iran’s lies from continuing to spread.

Thank you for your continued support for Pastor Youcef. Your voice is having a tremendous impact on the unrelenting effort to save his life.